Tackling Educational Disadvantage: What can Schools do?

McAvinue, LP (Laura)
National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), Floor 1, Block 3, Grove Court, Blanchardstown, Dublin, 15

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 116, 11-07-2019, 09:00 - 10:30

Keywords

Understanding & Tackling Educational Disadvantage

Summary

 

Educational disadvantage refers to the translation of socioeconomic disadvantage into educational under-achievement.  Educational disadvantage remains a significant problem in Ireland, with students from backgrounds of low SES under-achieving to a significant degree at primary and post-primary levels and continuing to be under-represented in third-level education.  Educational disadvantage is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, with factors contributing to disadvantage identified at the levels of society, community, school, family and the individual child. The first part of this presentation will examine the Government of Ireland’s current approach to tackling educational disadvantage and the evidence for its effectiveness to date.  The second part of the presentation will move beyond the Government approach to address the question of what schools can do to tackle educational disadvantage. A review of the literature pertaining to factors contributing to educational disadvantage will be presented, with a focus on identifying those factors which may be amenable to the influence of the school. Such factors include social and cultural capital, oral language, social and emotional learning, school connectedness, school discipline climate, teacher expectations, parental involvement and extra-curricular activities. The ultimate aim is to present a framework of factors which schools can target in their quest to tackle educational disadvantage.

 

 

 

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